A military tin helmet remade in leather, a scarf turban, and a beret: The headgear alone is enough to whisk the imagination into the zone of air raids, blackouts, and plucky WWII heroines playing their part while, quite possibly, having some off-duty fun with the GIs.

That Christian Dior had troubled to theme its pre-fall collection so coherently and with such attention to detail again reinforces the importance of this in-between season—no longer second-league clothes shown to buyers on racks but a full, competitive camera-ready production for general release. After all, this is where the daywear is for Dior, and this season it played as a military sequel to the film noir hit the house put out for Spring. The Eisenhower jackets and bombers, pencil skirts with military pockets, and fur-collared tweed coats, all in shades of khaki, olive, and brown, do an excellent job of saluting the trends while maintaining Parisian standards of fit and timelessness. And for evening, the silver lamé siren dress—spot-on for the coming season—looked far too accomplished to be classified as a mere understudy.